In our endeavor to cover new and upcoming startups, we tried out a very interesting startup recently. Fix-all (www.fix-all.biz) is a Chennai based startup that provides home repair and renovation solutions. Their website mentions – “Fix-All offers a range of services like electrical, plumbing, civil, carpentry, painting, A/C and computer maintenance services. The service offering is carefully chosen to address the specific pain points associated with each service. Fix-All ensures transparent pricing and accountability for the service. ” 
However – like always – we thought we would try it out before writing about them. So we sent them an email and filled up their online form at morning around 9 AM. We got a call at about 1130 AM from a technician speaking Tamil (unfortunately that’s the reality Chennai lives with – but I guess in other cities they would have a common language caller). The person was courteous and fixed up an appointment in the evening. I also called up their call center to ask for the follow up (I had forgotten the number of the technician) – and they got my case details from the tracking system.
In the evening, the person reached on time. He did a survey of the problems and called back his call center (mostly due to my inability to understand Tamil). The person on the phone then called back to mention the exact rates of repair and was helpful enough to suggest that I replace the fan rather than repair it.
Overall the experience was MUCH more professional than anything I have encountered in Chennai or any other city till now. They were also very transparent about their costs and did not attempt to “push” a service – which was another big plus for them in my list.
Like most such businesses, I guess they will have big challenges in scaling and providing the same service levels (most of such services tend to remain localized). I am not too sure how big their setup is (they mention 15 people on board), but they definitely are addressing a major pain point for almost all urban residents. They also take out the haggling part out of the discussion (although I suspect you pay for that implicitly), but I think Indians will increasingly pay for service rather than the outcome only – and this is a good step forward.
Moreover, creating a brand in a price sensitive segment would be an interesting play to watch out for.
So if you are in Chennai (for whatever reasons), do give them a try and let us know! Are you game for a flat rate/professional service for home repair needs (and in return, pay a premium price for the service)?
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